Twisted-Stitch Cowls

“This looks as if it had been carved in wool,” Meg Swansen’s husband commented when he first saw an item she had knitted using twisted-stitch motifs. Meg was so enamored of this technique that she began importing a collection of stitch dictionaries on what was initially called Bavarian Twisted Stitch. She eventually followed the trail to Maria Erlbacher, an Austrian knitter who wrote a series of booklets on the technique. As Meg writes in the premier edition of Farm & Fiber Knits, what followed was a years-long intercontinental effort to publish Maria’s work for an English-speaking audience.

The three main motifs of these textured cowls are all taken from Twisted-Stitch Knitting by Maria Erlbacher (Schoolhouse Press, 2009). The motifs are separated by a “filler” that may be expanded or reduced as desired.

The cream wool piece, shown here as an ear warmer, can serve as a sampler to practice twisted-stitch patterns and establish your preference for executing the technique. It is straight-sided, so you needn’t be distracted by shaping.

If you would rather have a deeper cowl with a flare at the lower edge, the blue version offers that option. All the shaping is worked in the purl sections between the patterns and not within the motifs such as might be required when shaping the top of a hat, for example.

MATERIALS
Yarn Filature Lemieux Québécoise (100% wool; 210 yd [192 m]/3½ oz [100 g]; fingering); #92 Cream or #42 Medium Blue, 1 skein. Distributed by Schoolhouse Press.
Needles Size 4 (3.5 mm): two 24" (60 cm) circular (cir) or set of double-pointed (dpn). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions Markers (m); cable needle (cn); tapestry needle.
Gauge Cream cowl: 25½ sts and 23½ rnds = about 4" (10 cm) in patt, blocked. Blue cowl: 28 sts and 28½ rnds = about 4" (10 cm) in patt, blocked.
Finished Size Cream cowl: 20" (51 cm) circumference and 4¼" (11 cm) tall. Blue cowl: 25" (63.5 cm) circumference at lower edge, 18¼" (46.5 cm) circumference at neck edge, and 5½" (14 cm) tall.

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Meg Swansen is a knitting designer, publisher, author, teacher, and the owner of Schoolhouse Press. Meg is known for her color-pattern designs, technical innovations, and Knitting Camp events (founded by her mother, Elizabeth Zimmermann). She has written hundreds of patterns and magazine articles, plus a number of books. Meg continues to knit, design, and write from her one-room schoolhouse home in Wisconsin, with an upcoming book to be published in late fall 2024.